Pistons “hit in the face” suffer an embarrassing loss for the humble Jazz

Detroit – The Detroit Pistons recently announced their ambitions to end their five-year playoff drought. This season, the Pistons seemed to be on the right track at times, but also had several games where they seemed far from reaching their goal.

On Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena, the Pistons looked like a team headed straight for another draft lottery with a 126-119 loss to the Utah Jazz. For the Pistons to achieve their postseason goals, they cannot afford to lose to a team hoping to win the Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes in June.

“We have to do a better job early in the game,” guard Malik Beasley said. “We have to win these games. I felt like we were the better team tonight. But obviously they came out and hit us in the face. We have to be better. We have to learn from it and move on.”

The Jazz came to Detroit with the league’s third-worst record (5-20), having lost eight of their last nine games. Utah had given up by an average of 29.6 points in its last three games.

The Pistons played from behind all night, except when Tim Hardaway Jr. made a 3-point field goal on Detroit’s first offensive possession.

Detroit gave the Jazz a 7-0 run after Hardaway’s three-pointer. At the end of the first period, the Pistons trailed Utah 48-19. Hardaway’s 3-pointer earlier in the evening marked his only triple until the end of the fourth quarter. He finished the game with eight points while shooting 2 of 9 from distance. The Pistons are 11-17 overall.

BOX SCORE: Jazz 126, Pistons 119

“We didn’t approach the game the way we should have,” coach JB Bickerstaff said. “Twelve minutes into the game we didn’t make the necessary adjustments and that’s how it happened. Our boys respect everyone they play against. “We just didn’t play with the physicality we needed to start a game and set the tone.” The game was too easy for them.”

Collin Sexton led the Jazz’s dominant first-quarter performance, scoring 13 of his team-high 30 points. Although the Pistons reduced their deficit from 29 points to six in the second quarter, the Jazz had a 65-54 lead at halftime. Lauri Markkanen posted a double-double with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Keyonte George scored 28 points on 7 of 13 shooting from behind the arc.

Before Cade Cunningham exited late in the fourth quarter, he led Detroit with 33 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four blocks. Beasley scored 26 points off the bench. Despite struggling with foul trouble most of the evening, Ausar Thompson recorded nine points and four assists in 20 minutes. He made his second consecutive start in the absence of Jaden Ivey, who remained sidelined with a knee injury.

With 1:37 left in the third quarter, Jazz rookie forward Ron Holland and Jordan Clarkson got into a small scuffle that resulted in both players being ejected. The altercation began when Clarkson aggressively tackled Paul, who scored on a layup attempt. Clarkson then got into an exchange with Holland and both players had to be restrained by their respective teammates.

“It’s ridiculous,” Bickerstaff said. “The double technical foul is ridiculous. If a player hits your player first, the technical foul should be on the player who hit your player. He (Clarkson) literally beat him (Holland) with his body; “What should this guy do?” ? You get the guy who made the first hit and then you move on.

Observations vs. Jazz

▶ Slip-ups in 3-point shooting defense: Despite the overtime heroics of Cade Cunningham and Tim Hardaway Jr., the improvements the Pistons showed in their ability to defend the 3-ball were crucial to their victory over the Miami Heat on Monday night. They held Miami to 27.9% shooting from distance, making 12 three-pointers. Against the Jazz, however, Detroit would have lost almost as many in the first quarter alone.

The Pistons’ slippage in their perimeter defense led to the Jazz making six of their first seven attempts to start the night. By the end of the period, the Jazz had made 9 of 13 on 3-pointers (69.2%), marking one of Detroit’s worst defensive quarters of the season. With 49 points scored, the Pistons allowed their opponent the highest number of points of the season.

▶ Great production from Paul Reed off the bench: While Isaiah Stewart was absent, Bickerstaff announced that Paul Reed would receive adequate minutes against the Jazz. Reed took advantage of his opportunity and had his most impressive game, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. He was instrumental in helping the Pistons gain momentum in the second half and outscore the Jazz 35-19.

▶ Tobias Harris returns: After missing the last game due to a sprained right thumb, Tobias Harris returned to the lineup. However, he had poor shooting performance. He shot 3 of 13 from the field and 0 of 3 on 3-point attempts agree to eight points. Harris’ disappointing efforts are just a small sampling of Detroit’s overall shooting woes. The Pistons finished the night shooting 27.7% on 3-point shot attempts.

The Pistons close out the calendar year with a four-game road trip out West. They start Saturday against the Phoenix Suns and travel to Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Monday. Tipoff between the Pistons and Suns is scheduled for 9 p.m. at the Footprint Center.

[email protected]

@cotydavis_24

Related Posts

Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb cry over the “depression” of Hoda’s exit

As Giannis Antetokounmpo turns 30, the Bucks star admits he wants to be MVP again

“Washington falls to UCLA 69-58 in Big Ten debut.”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply